Bellarmine: Who belongs to the Church, and why

"Our declaration is that there is only one Church, not two; and that the only one true Church is the community of men united by the profession of the true Christian faith and the communion of the same sacraments, under the government of legitimate shepherds and, above all, of the sole Vicar of Christ on earth, the Roman Pontiff. From this definition one can easily see who belongs to the Church and who does not belong to her. Indeed, this definition is made up of three parts: profession of the true Faith, communion of the sacraments and submission to the legitimate shepherd, the Roman Pontiff. The first part excludes all infidels, those who were never in the Church such as the Jews, Turks and pagans, or those who once were in it and later fell away, like the heretics and apostates. The second part excludes the catechumens and excommunicated, since the former are not admitted to the sacraments and the latter are excluded from them. The third part excludes the schismatics, who have the Faith and the sacraments but do not submit to the legitimate shepherd .... All others are included, even if they are reprobates, delinquent and impious.

"Between our declaration and the others there is this one difference: all the others require interior virtue to declare that someone is a member of the Church, and thereby make the true Church invisible. We, on the contrary, believe with certainty that in the Church are found all the virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity and the others; however, we do not believe that any interior virtue is required to be able to say that someone is somehow part of the true Church, of which the Scriptures speak, but only the external profession of Faith and the communion of the Sacraments, which can be perceived by the senses. Indeed, the Church is as visible and palpable a community of men as the community of the Roman people, the Kingdom of France or the Republic of Venice." [my emphasis] (Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei adversus huius Temporis Haereticus (1586-1593) (Venice, 1721), 53, quoted in La Civilta Cattolica, Editorial: "Dalla 'societa perfetta' ala Chiesa 'mistero'" 1/9/1985, p. 107).

[Hat tip to R.R.-D.]

Related (updated 10/13/09):

New Catholic, "In the Church, the bad are many and the good few" (Rorate Caeli, October 9, 2009).